


Empress, Ambassador, Tyrant

by blazingsnark



Series: Queens of Steel; Servants of Iron [2]
Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, and I went well, essentially I wondered what would happen after the Elgang for the three paths, try it, we should just
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 08:51:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7526308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blazingsnark/pseuds/blazingsnark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lu's goal has always been to get back her throne.  But she goes about it differently in each job class, and each Ciel has a different opinion on it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Noblesse & Royal Guard

Elesis falls from the air to crumple on the ground, the light leaving her. Ciel glances over at her, wondering if she'll be alright as Elsword runs to his big sister and Raven reaches awkwardly to comfort him.

But Lu's focus is on something different.

“Ciel!” she calls, forcing her butler's attention back to her. She's staring at the slowly closing portal to the demon world, a gate of darkness shimmering around the fading necromancers and the shackled demon god.

“It's now or never,” she murmurs as he walks over to her, and she looks up at him with calm blue eyes. Her mind through the contract is calculating, trying to figure out if this is the best time to reveal themselves, to take back her throne. The demon world will be in disarray. It's the perfect time for a powerful demon and her loyal contracted servant to rise to the top.

Ciel knows this, but his heart tugs at him, making him glance back at the Elgang gathered around Elesis. They've fought together for a relatively short time, but Ciel has already come to care for them.

“I'll miss them too,” Lu murmurs, and through the contract, Ciel can feel her regret underneath steel determination. “But we can't... If we do this later, another demon might be established on the throne. It's now or never.”

Ciel tears his eyes from the Elgang and dips his head to Lu. “I understand.”

She turns back toward the gate. “You have the note?”

He reaches inside his jacket reflexively, his fingers touching the warm paper of the envelope. When he and Lu determined that they might have to leave after this battle, they both agreed the Elgang deserved an explanation. So, in case something like this came up where they had a time limit and no good way to explain what was happening, they had written a letter of explanation and apology.

“I'll give it to them,” he says. “Hold the gate open for me?”

Lu nods silently, starting to walk toward the shimmering veil of darkness. Blue chains wrap around its edges and hold it solid to the floor, fighting the gate's inclination to close.

Ciel turns and half-walks, half-jogs to the Elgang, drawing the letter out from his breast pocket. Aisha turns as she hears Ciel's footsteps on the loose gravel.

The sight of Aisha's face, bloody and tired and worried, sends a spike of sheer regret for what he's about to do through Ciel's heart. He quickly averts his gaze, mentally pressing closer to the contract, and holds the pale blue envelope out to Aisha.

Aisha hesitantly takes it, glancing over the calligraphy on the front. “ _** To the El Search Party, ** _ ”  it reads, mainly because Lu and Ciel couldn't decide which member to write it to.

Ciel can feel Lu's impatience and the energy slowly draining from her as she struggles to keep the gate open. He begins backing away while Aisha is still processing what's happening.

“Ciel-”

“Forgive us,” he says, cutting Aisha off and dipping his head. Lu's amused approval flickers briefly in his mind – he's behaving like a proper demonic Royal Guard, and the thought both excites and sickens him even after all this time.

Then he spins on his heel and moves into a sprint, covering the ground between himself and Lu in seconds. Lu barely glances at him.

“You gave them the note.”

“Yes.”

“Then come on.” Lu steps toward the gate, and Ciel can feel her nervousness underneath the control she's exerting on the gate and on the contract and on her own emotions. He's almost grateful for the contract now, since he can just turn to it and surrender, ignoring his doubt and regret and fear of what they'll find through that gate.

He trusts Lu, he says to himself as they step through, still finding himself reaching for Marbas in the darkness following the gate, swirling and yanking them both out of time and space and Elrios itself.

He trusts Lu.

_ He trusts Lu. _

Lu's small hand finds its way into Ciel's and squeezes reassuringly.

  
  


Ciel finds himself thinking of that moment now, standing beside and behind Lu's throne as she directs her court to prepare for the trials of In and Jin. He shifts minutely to get rid of an itch on his leg, not really paying attention as advisers squabble and servants scurry to erect platforms for the defendants to plead their case.

It's been perhaps two months since then. Time passes differently in the demon world than in the human world, and it still feels weird for Ciel. Days are fleeting, but weeks seem to stretch on until Ciel isn't sure if he's been here for a month or a century.

Lu leans back in her throne with a little sigh, and looks up at Ciel. He raises an eyebrow, waiting for a command.

There's no command. Instead, emotion flickers through their contract, boredom and curiosity about what Ciel was thinking mixed together.

Ciel straightens and pretends to survey the room, not really seeing anything as he constructs an image of that day to send to Lu. A pause, then acceptance and a flicker of regret.

Lu wonders what would have happened if they'd stayed, too. But then she silently reminds Ciel of the day she strode into the throne room and challenged the demon who'd taken on the role of regent, eyes flashing and Ciel behind her, pride and ambition swelling in her heart.

Ciel remembers the day differently. Instead of pride and ambition, he felt fear and nervousness, ready to reach for Marbas at any second and open fire if it seemed Lu was in any danger at all. He can still hear the whispering as the court had realized he wasn't a demon, retaining his humanity even after entering into a contract with a demon and sharing her soul.

Even now, he knows the rumors that Lu keeps him around for other things than his fighting and cooking skills. Instead of being the one who serves her snacks and treats, it's whispered that he serves as her snack and treat.

He finds the rumors absurd, but still makes sure Lu never hears about them. He keeps his lingering unhappiness and regret from her also. She has enough to worry about without Ciel adding to her plate.

Lu has gone back to mediating an argument between two advisers about what should be done with In and Jin. Her first decree as empress was that demons, except under special circumstances, were no longer allowed in Elrios, and she gave the lingering ones only two weeks in which to get back to their own world. In and Jin, like many demons who were used to ignoring the demands of whatever demon was on the throne at that moment, ignored her. Lu had been forced to crack down on them and show what would happen to demons who disobeyed laws under her reign.

Ciel's mind drifts as he stands, looking attentive but being anything but. He wishes he could remember some of the recipes he'd known back in Elrios. There was a lemon pastry that he remembers being fantastic, but he can't remember the ingredient that made it so fantastic for the life of him. It was something odd, he knows. Bread crumbs? Yggdrasil leaves? Kool-El-Aid?

Lu prods at his mind, a mental admonition for not paying attention. She's exasperated with him and glad she thought to check if he would hear her before saying his name aloud and making a fool of him in court. They need to stick together, give an aura of strength and power, if they want Lu to keep her throne.

And Ciel does want Lu to keep her throne. It's what Lu wants, so Ciel will fight tooth and nail for it. That hasn't changed.

He tunes back into the conversation. Lu leans forward and says a few quick words to her advisers, then turns to Ciel and raises an eyebrow.

“What do you think?”

He draws breath carefully, skimming Lu's mind to figure out what they were discussing and to form an opinion in the few seconds he has.

The double doors of the throne room burst open. A demon guard sprints inside and skids to a stop in front of Lu's throne, tugging at his helmet. It's stuck on his horns. Lu watches impassively as he gets it off and drops to his knees, nervous and shaking.

“Noblesse Luciela,” he pants. Lu leans back and rests her slim hands on the throne's carved armrests.

“Speak.”

“The demons In and Jin... They've escaped,” the demon guard pants.

The court stops for a moment, all motion halting and eyes flying to Lu. Then the whispering starts, and Ciel's hands itch to draw his gunblades and fire a silencing shot into a few random demons' hearts to spare Lu from the quiet cruelty.

Lu feels the impulse and touches him mentally through their contract, silencing him before he acts. He can feel her bubbling anger and disgust with the two demons and the guards that let them escape.

“I see,” she says quietly, and rises from her throne. She stands taller than she used to, having regained her powers and her full form. Ciel misses the days when she was tiny and cute.

She nudges him exasperatedly, a mental command to shut up. He suppresses a smile.

“Which way did they go?”

The demon guard shakes his head. “We don't know, my lady. I came upon the scene on patrol. The ones assigned to guard them were dead and their chains were empty.”

Lu frowns now, the faintest sign of the displeasure Ciel can feel tainting their contract. Damn it. If Lu doesn't seem strong enough to enforce her own laws and keep a few rogue demons from escaping, that's not a good sign for her keeping the throne no matter how much Ciel might fight for it.

“Royal Guard,” she says, raising her voice to carry over the hall. Ciel steps forward and dips his head, waiting for the command he knows is coming.

“ Find the demons In and Jin,” Lu orders, making sure her voice reaches to every corner of the room.  _ Look, all of you, this is what will happen if you disobey my laws.  _ “ Bring them back for trial and sentencing if you can. Kill them if you can't.”

Ciel presses reassurance into the contract, dropping to one knee on the cold marble in front of Lu. His right fist presses to his breast over his heart, the formal sign of acceptance and loyalty.

“As you wish.”

Lu's gentle touch on his head is the signal for him to rise. He turns, walking down the steps of the dais and down the middle of the throne room, trying to ignore the judging gazes on him.

As soon as he's out in the hall, he breaks into a run, sending out the own small magic he's gotten from Lu's power to try and find the rogue demons. At times like this, he always thinks how absurd his situation is – a human assassin, died and revived by the hand of a demon, and now the second most powerful demon in this world and willing servant to the most powerful.

He misses his old life. He misses the Elgang. He even misses the phorus, for the love of El. But regrets are futile here, and Lu has set him a task, so he shakes off the thoughts and concentrates on the gunblades in his hands.

 


	2. Chiliarch & Dreadlord

“You do realize we missed our chance?” he asks.

Lu glances up at Ciel, then just as quickly looks away, irritation flickering through their contract and into Ciel's mind. He can feel the doubt and regret beneath it. He hasn't been her contract holder this long for nothing.

“Shut up,” she says. “Lift me up. I can't see.”

There's not much to see – just the Elgang crowding around Elesis' bed in the back of Pesop's shop as the faceless alchemist examines her – but Ciel lifts Lu up anyways, swinging her onto his shoulders easily. She wriggles a bit and leans on his head.

Ciel steps forward, nudging in beside Chung. Chung barely glances at Ciel, concerned blue eyes on Elesis.

“There's nothing wrong with her that I can detect,” Pesop finally says, straightening up and shrugging. Ciel can feel Lu relaxing on his shoulders. Aww, she was worried.

He gets a sharp, though playful, elbow digging into his skull for the thought. He suppresses a laugh.

“Then why is she unconscious?” Elsword demands. Pesop seems like he's looking down at Elsword, though it's really hard for Ciel to tell with that dumb paper bag over his face. How can he breathe in that thing?

Lu shoots an image of a faceless man through their contract. Ciel, just for the hell of it, mentally adds a snakelike face on the back of the head and then plunks over it a paper bag with a drawn-on smile. His shoulders shake with silent laughter when he feels Lu shudder.

At least her mind is off Elesis now, and how the Red Knights' captain is so still and pale in the bed. Sure, Elesis wants to kill both Lu and Ciel for being demons, but she's a strong and fair ally in any case.

He draws his attention back to Pesop just in time for the man to shrug helplessly again. “I don't know. I'll give her a recovery potion, but I expect her body is just recovering from the massive amount of energy that the El Lady poured inside her.” He pauses, the paper bag rustling as he tilts his head. “Are you sure it was the El Lady?”

“That influence is rather hard to mistake,” Rena chirps with a deadly glint in her eyes. Pesop backs off. Ciel can hear Lu toying with the idea of Rena being a lord of terror in disguise.

He pretty much shoves the thought into an abyss. The last thing they need is the elven version of Lu.

“You don't mind if we take turns watching over her, do you?” Elsword is asking Pesop. The paper bag gets turned around as Pesop shakes his head, and he has to fumble to right it.

“I'll take the first shift, then,” Elsword says, turning around to face the rest of the Elgang. “Go rest, guys. We'll figure out what to do next when Elsa wakes up.”

There's muttered worry and agreement all around. Ciel turns away, starting to walk back with Add (who just seems glad to be out of the stuffy shop) and Ara (who seems to be talking to Eun and not paying attention; she promptly trips and falls face-first into a table).

Ciel bends to help Ara. Lu squeaks in indignation as she's nearly thrown off his shoulders. Oops.

“Thanks,” Ara says with a smile, accepting his hand up. She seems distracted, constantly looking back at the room they just left. “Do you think Elesis will be alright?”

Lu disappears from Ciel's shoulders, reappearing in a sparkle of blue and purple with her feet solidly on the ground. She smiles up at Ara.

“There was no demonic magic that we could feel in her,” she says reassuringly. “Probably she just needs a bit of rest. Ciel, I want cookies.”

“Lu-”

“Now.” There's a wicked glint in Lu's eye as she turns away, clasping her hands innocently behind her back. Ciel is already adjusting the jacket hanging loosely from his shoulders in resignation.

“I'll get you some when we get-”

“Race ya!”

And she's out the door. Ciel can hear surprised yells from the people outside, mentally curses at her, gets the mental equivalent of a tongue stuck out at him, and hurriedly gives Ara a small smile and apology before sprinting after Lu.

He keeps track of her route through the contract. An alley here, a sprint down a main street there, even a catwalk suspended above the pool of lava that powers Lanox. Ciel slows down to navigate this, not trusting his demon-enhanced body.

When he catches up with Lu, she's sitting on the roof of an abandoned house at the edge of Lanox and staring out over the Ashen Lands.

“You know there aren't any cookies here?”

“I know.” Lu's tail twitches. Her gaze is surprisingly distant for a child, even as she looks down and pats the roof tiles next to her, motioning for Ciel to take his place at her side.

He scans the crumbling wall for good handholds, climbs about halfway up, then decides it's not worth the scrapes on his hands and uses demonic magic to boost himself the rest of the way. Lu smirks.

“Lazy,” she chides him, and Ciel rolls his eyes and sits down next to Lu, dangling one leg over the edge of the roof. He can feel her nudge the contract to make sure his silence isn't angry. A smile and a wink makes her halfheartedly giggle and back off.

For a few minutes, they're both silent. The hot wind catches Ciel's jacket and tries to tug it from his shoulders. Lu's tail doesn't stop twitching. Ciel holds onto his jacket and stays silent, letting Lu process her recent actions. Or, rather, her inaction.

They could have gone to the demon world.  Lu could have regained her power easily in the tumult after the failed invasion, with fears running rampant.  Ciel would have fought for her, as he always has.  But when he moved to step through the portal, Lu drew him back.

He's watching a bunch of baby pigs play near the edge of the Ashen Lands and trying not to think of Elesis when Lu's hand slips into his vest. He jerks automatically, looking down at Lu.

“What are you-”

She withdraws the light purple envelope from his inside pocket. Ciel shuts up, watching her small hands toy with the paper, running pale fingers over the scrawled print on the front.  “ _** To the Elgang.” ** _

“Do you think we should have left?” she asks quietly.  


Ciel doesn't respond immediately. The pigs are still squealing and tumbling over each other, though they're too far away to hear.

Lu nudges him and repeats her question, sounding nervous. Ciel looks down at her.

“I don't know,” he admits. “I'm fine with staying in Elrios for a bit longer, but I know how much it means to you to get your throne back.”

Lu sighs and flops backward onto the roof's hot tiles. Ciel almost wants to tickle her exposed belly, but refrains. Sometimes even Lu needs to be serious.

She holds up the purple envelope to the bright sun and squints at it. “You've become more demonic, right, Ciel?”

Ciel nods, not really sure where Lu is going with this, or if she's going anywhere at all.

Lu turns the envelope around to study the back. “Are you worried about Elesis?”

Ciel gives Lu a dead-eyed look. She can feel his worry from through the contract, just like he can feel hers. There's really no need to talk about feelings.

Lu turns her head to meet his gaze. “So am I,” she says. “And it's weird.”

Ciel raises an eyebrow. Lu goes back to staring at the purple envelope.

“I'm a demon, Ciel. I don't worry about anyone who's not in my family. That's just how I work.”

Ciel stays silent, still not sure if Lu has a point. How does this relate to them missing their best chance to return to the demon world and retake her throne?

“So if you've become more demonic, do you think I could have become more... human?”

Ah. That explains it.

Ciel leans back, bracing his weight on his hands and irritably shaking the jacket from his shoulders, snatching it and pinning it beneath one palm before the wind can take off with it.

“Probably,” he admits. “Not necessarily that that's a bad thing.”

Lu looks up at him again. She's started to worry at the envelope with her fingers, tearing the edges.

“But if my soul is tainted with humanity, I'm not fit to rule the demon world.” She deliberately rips into the envelope, one corner fluttering away in the hot wind. “This hasn't ever happened with any contract before. Is it just you? Is it because I allow you to be my partner instead of my servant? Should I-”

“Allow me?” Ciel asks archly, interrupting her with a raised eyebrow. “Stop tearing that thing up. We might need it later. And last I checked, I'm a demon lord of the same rank as you. If you wanted to 'allow' me to do things, you really should have said that back at the beginning of our contract.”

Lu's hands stop mid-motion. She stares up at Ciel, lips compressing into a thin line and eyes widening. Ciel can't tell if that's anger or surprise, and he nudges the contract to find out.

Lu buffs him away violently. Definitely anger then. She glares up at him, her tail twitching, the purple forms of her gauntlets shimmering around her hands and clipping through the envelope.

He stares her down, feeling an unusual thrill of risk. Ciel knows in the past he would have backed down long before this, letting Lu do as she liked. It seems her personality isn't the only one that's gone through changes.

They both look away at the same time, checking each other's moods through the contract. Lu feels more irritated than angry now, though Ciel can detect a dull flare of pain beneath her emotions.

“You know, we can still open a rift to the demon world if you really want,” he says quietly, leaning back and staring up at the sky choked by ash. He misses the clear skies of home. “Our prime moment might have passed, but we could still establish ourselves in the demon world.”

Lu is silent. Ciel hears the envelope tear more, and looks over at her to make sure she's not doing anything drastic. He can feel a change bubbling in her mind, and it both worries and excites him. If she's thinking what he _thinks_ she's thinking....

“Or,” he says slowly, “we could stay with the Elgang and figure something else out after this whole journey is done. If the El Lady grants us access to her presence, even as demons....”

“It would give us ammunition to maybe open relations between the demon world and Elrios.” Lu sits up straight and stares into the lettering on the envelope, not really seeing it from the blank look in her eyes.

Ciel sits up also, dusting off his palms from the dirty rooftop and slinging his jacket back across his shoulders. The wind has died down, though it's still tugging at his jacket and Lu's loose clothing, but he ignores it in favor of watching Lu. They're contracted, sure, demonic by nature, but Lu is still the person Ciel cares the most for. He would gladly die for her.

That's morbid. He shoves away the thought.

Lu stands, smacking away Ciel's hand when he moves to steady her. The wind tries to push her small frame off the edge, but she plants her feet and stands her ground, lashing her tail back and forth like a tiny panther preparing her strike.

Ciel draws one knee up to his chest and waits. Demons and their rituals. Or maybe it's just Lu.

“I am Luciela R. Sourcream,” Lu says aloud, staring at the horizon. She repeats her name, sounding more confident and sure of it. “I _am_ Luciela R. Sourcream. I'm the Chiliarch, commander of thousands, wielder of abyssal terror, with the power to control fear and the Dreadlord serving at my side through contract. The chains of fate have no hold on me.”

Ciel lets the “serving” comment slide. It's technically true in the terms of their contract, after all. He watches Lu hold out the envelope, hesitating for the briefest of seconds before ripping it smoothly in half.

She puts the halves together and rips again before letting go. The hot winds immediately snatch the purple paper and carry it off.

Then she turns to Ciel, a wild light in her eyes. She gives him a smile of pure mischief, then steps backward off the roof.

It feels like Ciel's been electrocuted as he watches her tip backward, opening her arms to enjoy the fall.

She's not going to catch herself. He feels no magic building in her body.

So Ciel kicks himself off the roof, diving for the ground and landing with a catlike grace no human could ever possess in a two-story drop. He dodges beneath Lu just in time, reaching for her as she lands heavy in his arms, his knees buckling slightly and her weight secure against his chest.

She's laughing. Ciel straightens and raises his eyebrows, then Lu grins at him with pure realization and joy.

“You'd risk your life for me, Ciel. You'd do anything to protect me. Just like I would do anything to protect you.”

She throws her arms around his neck in a very, very childish manner, but something about the gesture seems adult, powerful with emotion. Ciel's heart jumps.

“With you by my side, there are no barriers in my way.” She laughs again, right in Ciel's ear, and she's so loud he almost winces. “None, Ciel, none! We can be whatever we want to be!”

Her enthusiasm is infectious. Ciel turns his head to watch the letter of apology fly away on the breeze, a hungry firebird snapping up one of the pieces and promptly choking on it. He laughs, low in his chest at first but growing in volume.

“The only chains on us are the contract,” he says, looking back at Lu and seeing his reflection in her shining eyes. “And with that power....”

“We can do anything.” Lu doesn't even need to touch the contract to finish the sentence.

Ciel feels a grin stretching his face at the thought of roaming the worlds with Lu, doing exactly as they please and wielding power in both demon and human realms. Fear is universal. Fear is the most powerful emotion, the thing that drove Solace to run off with the El Lady, the thing that made Lu's enemies chain her and Ciel's old bosses cast him from their families. And this is the power they control together. The possibilities are truly endless.

  
  


It comes true almost as Ciel had imagined it.

After their travels in Elysion, Lu and Ciel, backed by support from their allies in the El Search Party, begin to work on drawing the human and demon realms into a relationship. It only takes Lu a few not-so-discreet inquiries and Ciel a few “chance” meetings in back alleys to find out a power scuffle took place in the demon realms after Sult was bound by the El Lady, and one of Lu's old allies came out on top. Which is ever so convenient for a certain demon duo.

Ciel is right beside Lu when she marches into the demonic throne room, neither of them bothering to kneel or show any other sign of respect, and Lu boldly states that she and Ciel could take power right now if they wanted. But they won't, she declares, because she really has no desire to be bound to one territory in the demon realm.

Ciel backs her up, all smiles and sharp edges, reflecting Lu's powers of terror and radiating his own to be bounced off her and magnified. The court of demons isn't quite taken in by the magic – most royal demons have wards against magical influences to their mind, after all, and their own contracted servants take anything they might otherwise suffer – but the combined power and threat of an allied Chiliarch and Dreadlord is great enough that the demon realm's new ruler agrees to a private meeting with them, where they hash out the terms of a peace with Elrios. Lu and Ciel request/demand to be named “ambassadors”, which basically means they can go where they choose and nobody will screw with them.

It's not difficult to get every kingdom on Elrios to sign the treaty. Lu and Ciel have it down to a fine art by the time they're done. They'll walk into the town hall or throne room or wherever the meeting with whoever has the power to sign such a document is, both radiating their own measures of fear to keep the annoying counselors and advisers from giving their main target any advice that they might not like. That taken care of, it's not difficult for Lu and Ciel to charm and intimidate (carefully, ever so carefully, they don't want to be disliked or have suspicion placed on them, that would make it difficult to operate in the centuries they're sure to be around for) a signature out of the person they're dealing with and onto the document. By the time they're done – only a year after the El Search Party officially disbands – there are no hostile demons remaining in Elrios and a copy of the treaty hangs on the wall of every palace or town hall of every kingdom with a semi-large El Shard.

And after all of this, Ciel finds himself sprinting through the sandy and crowded streets of a Sander bazaar, following a certain small demon who seems to be making a beeline for the stalls selling demonic accessories.

He finally catches up with her at a small tent that's selling bracelets, supposedly straight from the demon world. The seller is a demon himself, and Ciel senses demonic magic rolling from the metal and precious stones, so he's probably telling the truth, unlike the faker in the stall next to him.

Ciel leans over and gives the faker a smile, shooting a silent bolt of menace into the expression. The merchant's face pales and he ducks away. It's a reaction that never grows old for Ciel.

“Stop terrorizing the quack,” Lu sniffs, replacing the bracelet she was looking at. Ciel shrugs, hands automatically checking his gunblades crossed at the small of his back.

“You know what'll happen if word gets out that the demon-human trade is lousy with fakes,” he points out. “It's not, but rumors spread fast, and then we just get the realms drawing apart and more work.”

“Right, right.” Lu grumbles something to herself and turns away from the bracelet vendor, flashing him a quick smile and brushing past Ciel. “Then I suppose it wouldn't be unwarranted if I just... took care of him?”

Ciel rolls his eyes and watches her go. He picks up a bracelet too, examining the cuff-like ornament set with moonstones, ignoring the power he feels ebbing and flowing on Lu's side of the contract and the sudden shriek from the adjoining merchant's stall.

Lu rejoins him not two minutes later, just as cheerful as usual. She barely gives Ciel time to put down the bracelet before she's tugging him out into the middle of the street, totally ignoring all the people who stare and step back at her horns and tail.

“You know, you almost have enough weight to pull me now,” he jokes, going along willingly with Lu. “A few more feet, and you'll be just about eye level with me.”

Lu snorts. “It's only about a foot. And just you wait. I'll get my true form back.”

She has been slowly regaining the likeness of a woman, but not really at any astounding pace. Just about how a child would normally grow. Ciel grins down at her, not saying anything, letting his expression convey all the teasing he wants to give her.

Lu pouts up at him. Her tail swishes.

They walk aimlessly for a few more minutes, stopping on occasion at stalls, checking over demonic products cursorily and not very enthusiastically. It's a while before Lu says anything else.

“Ci~el?” she asks, the singsong voice she only uses when she's trying to be extra mischievous or resemble a child to make people underestimate her. Usually both.

Ciel looks over at her and raises an eyebrow. “Yes, O mighty one?” he asks sarcastically. Lu grins.

“I want cookies.”  


And Ciel knows all is right with his world.

 


	3. Diabla & Demonio

“Ciel!” Rena screams.

Ciel can feel the burst and flow of demonic magic behind him, Scar blasting Rena with blue fire. He looks back only briefly to make sure Scar's attention is fully taken up by the Elgang.

Lu shifts impatiently within the contract. As per usual, she and Ciel have separated while fighting - Lu curled up in her astral form to save energy, Ciel with his gunblades and sniper rifle, switching out with her whenever she deems it fit.

Right now, she’s given Ciel a different order than simply fighting Scar.  The Elgang will be their distraction, but she’s set her sight on more powerful prey.

Ciel turns back around, jumping from the platform that Scar has trapped the Elgang on.

The ground rushes towards him, volcanic rock and shifting fire. Ciel tucks into a flip just because he can, then creates a platform just above the ground of black-blue demonic magic, landing lightly on it to check his momentum before jumping to the ground.

A spurt of flame shoots up beside him. He ignores the heat and his now-singed coat, sheathing both gunblades because he doesn't need sharp objects to keep track of while he runs, and begins to sprint up the side of the summoning mountain. Lu's energy floods through him. She's pulsing with excitement and power, and Ciel twists that energy to be useful to him, trying to keep it away from his mind and pushing his body to the limits of his fading humanity.

_Take out the necromancers. Leave Amethyst alive,_ Lu commands. Ciel doesn't waste energy replying.

He flicks white bangs from his demonic eye. He's suddenly seeing the world in double, magic layered on top of and slightly to the right of his “normal” vision. Black-purple auras flicker around the necromancers. There's one that's bigger, more purple and powerful than the others. Ciel assumes that's Amethyst.

_Can I chain it?_ he asks Lu, and receives the mental equivalent of a shaken head and a flare of irritation.

_ Just follow orders! _

Ciel reaches out into thin air and withdraws his sniper rifle from the contract. The flare of demon magic alerts some necromancers to his presence, he can tell. One lowers its bony hands and starts to turn.

Ciel jumps up into the air, creating another blue-black platform of magic underneath him and landing on one knee, bracing the rifle against one shoulder and closing his demonic eye. Normal human vision will suffice for target practice.

The necromancer comes into his rifle's sights, raising hands crackling with magic. Ciel squeezes the trigger, doesn't wait for the thing to fall, smoothly switches his sights to another target, and shoots.

The portal begins to close, collapsing in on itself, as the necromancers fall. Ciel flicks his bangs back over his demon eye and nudges Lu.  _ Finished. _

_ I'm coming out. _

Ciel spreads his stance and raises his sniper rifle again, training it on Amethyst. He squeezes down on the trigger and rides the edge of where it'll actually fire. One movement from him, and Amethyst will be dead.

A flare of blue and wave of energy in the corner of his eye alerts Ciel to Lu's presence. She stays out of his rifle's sights as she runs forward, making a motion in the air.

Chains lash up from the ground and wrap over Amethyst. Ciel lowers his sights to compensate as the chains drag Amethyst thrashing to the ground, leeching energy and power from the necromancer and feeding it into the portal.

It opens wider. Lu turns and motions to Ciel.

“We don't have much time. Come on.”

Ciel drops the rifle. It turns to smoke and disappears, but he doesn't really pay attention to that, reaching behind his back for the smooth and familiar hilts of his gunblades.

A shriek of grief rises from the platform. Ciel turns automatically, squinting to focus his vision.

Elsword kneels next to his sister. Ciel can sense the life draining from her.

He should care about that, shouldn't he? It's not Lu, though, so it doesn't matter. Just another human.

He spins his gunblades and turns, following Lu as they jump into the void.

  
  


The battle with the demon god is brief but taxing. Ciel is forced into Transcendence twice in a row, forcing himself onward even after his mind feels stretched and pounded like bread dough not given enough time to rise.

He draws his strength from Lu. His mistress is magnificent in battle, gauntlets and magic flashing and swirling, her own full form sleek and elegant and powerful. Ciel stands off while she fights, alternating between shooting from his gunblades and from his sniper rifle. Harried by the constant bullets and claw swipes, Sult is finally forced to his knees, the power around him ebbing to reveal a handsome demon who looks rather like Ran, but with sleeker horns and a crueler gaze.  It’s not how Ciel would have expected the all-powerful demon god to look, exactly.

It's after the battle, when Ciel is trying his best not to collapse with exhaustion and strain, that Lu turns from Sult's defeated form and walks over to him.

She's in her full form. Ciel doesn't see any plan in her mind to revert back to the childish body she was trapped in for years.

“Sult has granted me more power than I had before,” she says quietly. “I'll share it with you when you need it. With this power, I can get my lands and title back in the demon realm.” She smiles. It's a smile that would make Ciel, if he were still human, scream in terror. “Maybe I'll even rise to the top. Empress Luciela; how does that sound?”

Ciel dips his head, wishing that Lu were in her astral form so he could speak to her. He could remove his mouthguard to speak, but Lu has forbidden him from doing that in battle, and he's not sure if this counts.

He gets his answer almost immediately. Cool fingers with clawlike nails scrape at his cheek, working underneath the leather and metal of the mouthguard and drawing it off Ciel's face. The slight breeze feels good on his chapped lips.

“Whatever you wish,” he says quietly, watching Lu. She does glow with more power than before. The contract marks on his chest and forehead throb with it in a mix of pain and pleasure.

Lu smiles.

“I knew you'd say that,” she murmurs.

Ciel dips his head again, half-closing his eyes. He's too tired to form an answer.

Lu studies him for a moment, then Ciel feels her hand on his cheek. He freezes.

Her fingers smooth along his skin, tracing his jawline and lingering at the corner of his mouth. “And you'll be my assassin, Ciel, my Demonio, the shadow that eliminates my enemies without opposition.”

Her fingers move to press against his lips, silencing any reply he might make. The rocks shift under her as she leans forward.

Cool lips press to the contract mark on his forehead. Ciel feels a jolt of energy race through his tired muscles, jolting his heart to beat faster and spreading warmth throughout his body.

Lu draws away too soon.

“Come, Demonio,” she commands, and turns to walk away. Ciel pauses only briefly before he pushes his mouthguard back up and follows her.

It doesn't matter that he's exhausted, or that he feels ready to snap, or that the new demonic power is starting to eat at the edges of his mind and whisper nasty things to him. His master is happy with him, and that's all Ciel cares about.

 


End file.
